"That was Justin's best effort of the year. It all starts on the mound, and after that everything fell into place," UH coach Mike Trapasso said.

The Aggies (14-28, 1-10) scored for the first time in 16 2/3 innings against UH pitching in the eighth inning. Three soft singles to the outfield by pinch hitter Joaquin Ortiz, Marcus Quade and Joseph Godinez produced the first run. The second run scored when Costi hit Jason Long with a pitch with the bases loaded.

Myles Ioane then made his first appearance of the season and got the final out of the inning. The left-hander gave up the Aggies' final run in the ninth.

"It was the best I felt all year and it could have been my best outing," said Costi, referring to the eighth inning.

"For the most part I threw my fastball on the outside corner. I didn't throw too many balls that touched the plate tonight. They took a lot of first-strike pitches and that expands the zone for the changeup and curve."

Trapasso added, "As good as the game was, Justin will carry that eighth inning with him for a week and it will motivate him."

The Rainbows scored in every odd-numbered inning starting with the first.

Derek DuPree sliced a ball over third that landed just fair and went for a one-out double. He moved to third on a single to right by Justin Frash and scored on Luis Avila's sacrifice fly to right field.

DuPree would start the third with a first-pitch, line single to right and steal second. On Frash's double off the base of the wall in right, DuPree was thrown out at home -- right fielder Patrick Fields to shortstop Abe Aguirre to catcher Brandon Lance.

Avila singled to left, scoring Frash. Avila took second on the throw to the plate and continued to third when the ball skipped by Lance. Avila made the score 3-0 when he came home as Esteban Lopez was safe at first on a throwing error by third baseman Godinez.

The 'Bows increased their lead to 8-0 in the fifth inning.

Avila walked to start the inning and scored on Inouye's triple on a ball that bounced off third base and rolled into the left-field corner. Lopez reached first on a fielding error by the third baseman, Inouye holding the bag.

Jon Hee bounced a single over third into left scoring Inouye, Lopez advancing to third. Hee stole second and when Lance's throw went into center, Lopez scored.

Robbie Wilder closed out the five-run inning with a two-run homer over the right-field wall. It was the senior outfielder's first homer as a Rainbow and came in his 91st game and 243rd at-bat.

"It will probably be a long time, maybe never, before you see another one," said Wilder, who has been battling an influenza virus. "No one pitches me inside very often, but they threw me two inside fastballs the previous at-bat. I was guessing inside fastball and was able to turn on the pitch."

Costi retired the Aggies in order through four innings before Lance broke the ice with a single to center to open the fifth. He was thrown out trying to steal and Costi got the next two batters on fly balls.

The Aggies had an opportunity to score in the sixth when Quade led off with a double to right-center and took third on a fly out. Costi then fanned Godinez and DuPree made a diving catch of Vince Rodden's sinking live drive in short center field to end the inning.

"It helps when your teammates play stellar defense," said Costi, who walked one and struck out eight.

WAC standings

Conference

Overall

W

L

Pct.

GB

W

L

Louisiana Tech

9

4

.692

--

27

14

Hawaii

7

5

.583

1 1/2

29

11

Fresno State

8

6

.571

1 1/2

27

14

San Jose State

6

5

.545

2

26

16

Sacramento State

7

7

.500

2 1/2

18

24

Nevada

5

6

.455

3

16

20

New Mexico State

1

10

.091

7

14

287

YesterdayHawaii 10, New Mexico State 3
Sacramento State 11, Louisiana Tech 10, 10 inn.
San Jose State 7, Fresno State 5
Nevada 11, Utah Valley State 5Today
New Mexico State at Hawaii, 1:05 p.m.
Louisiana Tech at Sacramento State
Fresno State at San Jose State
Utah Valley State at Nevada